Founder of Islamic School Gets Probation for Sexually Assaulting Student, Staff Member

ELGIN, IL - The founder of the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin has been sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting a teenage student and former staff member at the school, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Mohammed Abdullah Saleem, 77, entered guilty pleas Thursday to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse during a hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building in Rolling Meadows. A judge sentenced him to two years of probation and ordered Saleem to register as a sex offender, according to a press release from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Saleem, the founder of the Institute of Islamic Education, was charged with the sex offenses in 2015 for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old student in his office on dozens of occasions over the course of more than two years, according to prosecutors. In a separate case, Saleem was also charged with the sexual assault of a female staff member of the school on several occasions from December 2013 through April 2014.

The judge on Thursday also ordered Saleem to have no contact with the Institute of Islamic Education and also can not have any contact with unrelated females under 18 without another adult present. He is also banned from possessing or watching any pornography.

Defense attorney Donna Rotunno told the Daily Herald Saleem is remorseful for his actions and pleaded guilty because he "realized a trial would not be good for his community." She also said Saleem's detoriating health conditions during the duration of the case made proceeding with a trial something he really "couldn't have withstood."

Coming forward with the sex abuse allegations is difficult for any victim, but particularly tough for women who are Muslims since "discussion of sex is taboo and many girls are forbidden to attend school health classes," the New York Times reports.

"Dating is uncommon or secretive, many marriages are arranged, and a blemish on a young woman’s reputation can render her unmarriageable," according to a 2015 article by the New York Times on Saleem.

The allegations against Saleem were even harder for Muslims in the Chicago area to stomach because Saleem had been revered throughout the community.

“In the South Asian community, he is like Billy Graham. He’s the archbishop of Chicago,” Omer Mozaffar, an Islamic scholar who serves as the Muslim chaplain at Loyola University Chicago, told the New York Times.

More via the New York Times and the Daily Herald